Class 4 State Cross Country Meet

LEESBURG — Handley juniors Will Pardue and Garrett Stickley had virtually the exact same times at Saturday's Class 4 state cross country meet, with Pardue sprinting and Stickley lunging as they crossed together at the finish line.

The two might have ended their races a little differently, but the process in which they got there, as well as the journey taken by their teammates, had a common theme — they gave everything they had.

The Handley boys' cross country team achieved its highest state finish since 1993 by taking second out of 12 teams with 71 points at Oatlands, just seven behind Blackburg's 64 and four ahead of defending state champion Western Albemarle (third with 75).

Both Pardue (seventh in 16 minutes and 29 seconds over 3.1 miles) and Stickley (eighth, also in 16:29) were hoping for higher individual finishes, and the Judges wanted their first team state title since the program captured their ninth state championship in 1993.

But Handley 20th-year head coach Mark Stickley noted that there's no shame in losing to a team like Blacksburg, which came in undefeated against Virginia competition.

"I thought we had a great game plan," said Mark Stickley, whose team placed sixth at last year's Class 4 meet at Great Meadow in The Plains. "I thought we executed well. I thought we ran our hearts out. I have no complaints. Blacksburg was the better team, they were better all year, and they were better today.

"But we got on the podium, and it's been a long time since Handley's been this high. I'm ecstatic. [Our runners] didn't leave anything out there. I think Garrett kind of epitomized that. He wasn't able to walk for 15 minutes [after he finished]. They put their heart and soul into this. What a great season, what a great team, and what a great finish."

On a sunny day in the mid 60s, other scoring runners for the Judges were senior Pierce Francis (17th in 17:04), junior Elliott Redcay (25th in 17:29) and senior Max Ware (26th in 17:30). Non-scoring Handley freshmen Will Thomas (18:35) and Skip Dickson (18:56) placed 56th and 71st, respectively.

Pardue and Stickley were two of four local All-State runners (top 15) on the boys' side, each of whom earned their first All-State medal. James Wood sophomore Eli Clark placed 11th in 16:47 and Millbrook senior Nick Hayden took 13th in 16:53. Francis finished just four seconds behind the the 15th-place finisher.

The only other local boys' individual qualifier, Colonels junior Ethan Pratt-Perez, placed 38th in the field of 100 runners in 17:57.

In the girls' meet, James Wood freshman Kate Konyar placed fourth in 19:22, and Sherando senior Emma Ahrens also earned her first All-State medal by placing 14th in 20:08.

A surge in the last 100 meters in which she passed one runner nearly delivered Millbrook senior Madison Murphy her fourth All-State medal, but she had to settle for 16th in 20:09. Pioneers coach Jamie McCarty thinks Murphy's torso might have crossed first, but finish is determined by the timing chips on each runner's feet.

Konyar led James Wood to seventh out of 12 teams with 160 points. After four straight runner-up finishes, Blacksburg won with 101 points, four more than Atlee.

Both Pardue and Garrett Stickley said the Judges tried their best on Saturday.

"We gave it everything we had," Pardue said. "It was a little disappointing [not to win], but I'm happy to be on this team. We work hard."

"We ran our hearts out," Garrett Stickley said. "Even though we didn't win the title, I feel like we ran the best we could today."

The Region 4C champion, Stickley not only led all local runners for most of the race but for about two miles, he was neck-and-neck with eventual champion Conner Rutherford of Blacksburg, a senior who won by 10 seconds in 15:46. Rutherford came through two miles in 10:08, just one second ahead of Stickley.

Stickley was still in third as he turned the corner just past the 2.5-mile mark, but he was moving noticeably slower than he was earlier in the race. Just before the 2.5-mile mark, runners have to attack a portion of the course people refer to as "the kill hill."

"I felt good at two miles, but the third mile really did me in," Stickley said. "I don't know if it was the hill [in the third mile]. I felt like walking it. I didn't. After 2.5 miles, I just got passed by so many people. At the very end of the race I just fell, because I did give it my all.

"I probably could have raced a little bit smarter, maybe taken it out a little bit slower. Maybe next year, I'll know what to do."

Mark Stickley said Garrett might have been a bit too aggressive early given the heat and the hills.

"A lot of people didn't finish this race [because of the conditions]," Mark said. "But he did finish and gave everything he had."

It did not look like Pardue would be among the runners to pass Garrett, but Pardue ran particularly fast in the final 50 meters.

"I loved the way Will moved up," Mark said. "He looked pretty rough most of the race. He somehow pulled it together and finished strong."

Pardue said he wasn't feeling his best on Saturday, and he fell off the pace after staying with the leaders for the first mile.

"I just tried to hold on as best I could," said Pardue, who was hoping for a top-3 finish on Saturday. "It hurt. It hurt a lot. At the end, I heard someone yell, 'It's close, it's close!' I just had to push myself even harder, and that's what happened there. But I wasn't as consistent as I would have liked."

Both Pardue and Stickley might have had higher goals individually, but neither was complaining about going home with an All-State medal. At last year's Class 4 meet, Pardue placed 27th and Stickley was 30th.

"Coach Stickley has done a great job at helping us get better and better," said Pardue, whose season PR of 15:10 is more than a minute better than last year. "To be All-State this year after finishing where I did last year, it's an honor. I owe that to Coach Stickley and how he's trained us. It's been great."

Garrett Stickley noted that his season-best last year was 16:21 during a season in which he dealt with severe shin splints. This year, he had no issues and had a PR of 15:15, and he could still go faster. Stickley said he'll be competing in two other races after the Virginia High School League season, one with Pardue, one with the entire Handley team.

"I wanted to get top 5," Stickley said. "But it's amazing to get All-State. It's been a dream of mine for a long time, and to finally achieve that, even though it's not as high as I wanted to, it's still an amazing accomplishment."

Konyar charged immediately off the start line, and through 1.3 miles she was step-for-step with eventual winner junior Zoie Lamanna of Jefferson.

Konyar fell back a bit and came through two miles in 12:14, the same time as Tuscarora's Michaela Workman, who finished second while Konyar took third in the Region 4C meet. But Konyar ran 10 seconds faster than Workman over the remainder of the race and finished in 19:22. Lamanna won in 18:44, 22 seconds ahead of Region 4C and Class 4 Northwestern champion Cassidy Scott, a Fauquier junior.

"I'm proud of how I did," said Konyar a few minutes after the race. "[Taking fourth] is better than I expected, honestly. I'm very happy. Still a little tired."

James Wood coach Matthew Lofton said Saturday was about place and not time for his runners. He felt Konyar could have finished anywhere from third to eighth.

"She had a fantastic race," Lofton said. "I couldn't have asked for anything better out of her. She went for it and led it for a little bit when it was tactical. She was racing against some really fast girls and showed she's a force to be reckoned with."

Konyar was pleased with the team as well. James Wood took third in Region 4C behind Tuscarora and Loudoun Valley. On Saturday, the Colonels finished one point ahead of the eighth-place Vikings.

Other scoring runners for the Colonels on Saturday were junior Sarah Moss (39th in 21:34), senior Quetzali Angel-Perez (41st in 21:40), senior Lillian Lovelace (52nd in 22:01) and sophomore Ruby Ostrander (59th in 22:12). Also running for the Colonels on Saturday were sophomore Kaitlin Combs (60th in 22:19) and junior Carrie Schneider (63rd in 22:27).

"I thought we performed to the best of our abilities today," Lofton said. "I just can't say enough great things about the girls. It's kind of been a rotating order of who finishes where. I think the girls all respect each other and they all train together as a pack.

"I think they know, "If I'm having a good day, I'm going to go,' and if someone's not having a good day, the teammates are going to pick up the slack and get the points that we need. They're just a nice, cohesive family and are just great kids. All the girls had a great race."

Angel-Perez said the Colonels are definitely a tight group.

"We're like a family," she said. "I'm actually going to cry right now. It just means a lot to be this close with everyone."

This is James Wood's first appearance at the state meet since 2019, so for seniors like Angel-Perez, Saturday was particularly special.

"I'm excited to be here, but also very sad, because it's the last race," she said. "I think it was a good last race, though. Everyone did really good. We all put a lot of work into getting here. I'm glad this happened."

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